Hajja Salesjana - September October 2016

24 “Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history,” the Pope told the estimated 1.6 million people attending Saturday's vigil at the “Campus Misericordiae” – or “Field of Mercy.” In his address, the pontiff warned against opting “for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption,” because then “we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom.” “Jesus,” however, “is the Lord of risk, of the eternal 'more',” he said. “Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.” Pope Francis stressed that now is not the time to denounce those fighting or to tear people down. “We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror,” he said. Rather, the name which should be given to the response to war is “fraternity,” “brotherhood,” “communion,” and “family.” “We celebrate the fact that coming from different cultures, we have come together to pray,” he said. “Let our best word, our best argument, be our unity in prayer.”“Let us also place before the Lord your own “battles”, the interior struggles that each of your carries in his or her heart.” At this point, the Pope invited everyone to join hands for a moment of silent prayer, which he said afterwords reminded him of the scene of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. “Picturing them can help us come to appreciate all that God dreams of accomplishing in our lives, in us and with us,” he said. On that day, the disciples huddled behind locked doors, paralyzed by the fear of persecution, the Pope recounted. “Then, in that situation, something spectacular, something grandiose, occurred,” he said. “The Holy Spirit and tongues as of fire came to rest upon each of them, propelling them towards an undreamt-of adventure.” “Thinking that in this world, in our cities and our communities, there is no longer any room to grow, to dream, to create, to gaze at new horizons – in a word to live – is one of the worst things that can happen to us in life,” he said. “When we are paralyzed, we miss the magic of encountering others, making friends, sharing dreams, walking at the side of others.” Pope Francis warned against a more dangerous kind of paralysis, which he described Pope Francis challenged massive crowds of young people at World Youth Day's final vigil to step away from the “sofa” of comfort and convenience, and respond to Christ's call to transform a suffering world. Avoid 'Sofa Happiness' - Pope Francis By Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)